Conventional tripods provide a pan head on which the camera is mounted by a knurled knob having a threaded shank. Such pan heads typically consist of seven or more parts and provide only a limited degree of angular adjustability of the camera position with respect to the tripod. For example, when a camera on a pan head mount is tilted forward to view a scene below and forward of the camera, the camera is rotated about a horizontal axis 3-5" below the camera lens, and the original position of the focal point of the camera is changed with respect to the intended subject. For close-ups requiring accurate focusing, such movement of the focal point of the camera generally requires refocusing and/or repositioning of the entire tripod before a suitably composed and focused photograph may be taken of the desired subject.
In the conventional pan head tripod camera mount, each time the angular position of the camera is changed, a knob or handle must be turned which loosens a pivot so the camera can be moved to a different visual area, angle or position. Then the handle or knob must be tightened to fix the camera in its desired position. These adjustments often require the use of both of the hands of the photographer and tend to divert his attention from his intended subject to the mechanical tasks of repositioning the camera. Since photographers make many changes in camera position before selecting the final view, a process of artistic composition, the extensive refocusing/repositioning can result in lost time and, in some cases, missed shots. If precise repositioning or focusing is not done, the resulting photograph may be poor.
Further, in conventional pan head tripod mounts, changing the picture plane from a horizontal position to a vertical position requires a 90.degree. rotation of the tripod head, to which the camera body is affixed, about a second pan head pivot. This rotation moves the focal point of the lens in an arc to one side of the tripod and lowers it. Such movement requires not only the loosening and retightening of the levers which hold the pan head pivot in its desired position, but also refocusing, repositioning the tripod, and recomposing the view on the intended subject of the photograph.
In the conventional pan head mount there is only limited angular motion. For example, in some mounts horizontal rotation of the camera about a vertical axis may only be possibel through 120.degree.-220.degree. before there is pivot or tripod leg interference. Similarly, vertical panning about a horizontal axis is typically about 90.degree.-110.degree. from about 45.degree. down to 45.degree. upward from horizontal.
In these conventional pan head mounts the camera, being heavy relative to the tripod, can cause the tripod to tip over because the center of gravity changes as the camera angle and orientation changes, e.g., a tilt of the camera downward or a change from a horizontal to vertical picture orientation. In all cases the levers or knobs must be manipulated, interfere with the tripod, flash cords, etc., and slow down the photographic process.
Besides the pan head tripod camera mount, various other attempts have been made to provide an adjustable camera mount that allows for adjustment of the camera about one or more axes. Examples of these are shown in the Humphries U.S. Pat. No. 3,064,547, and in the Akeley U.S. Pat. No. 1,177,165. Each of these shows very complex camera mounting devices requiring the manipulation of various gears, cranks, hand wheels and handles to adjust the camera position. Humphries is a large missile tracking camera device not practical for use with a standard single lens, hand-held camera. It employs a gimball ring rather than a double yoke, and the camera is mounted on a worm gear platform for fore and aft movement. The camera is not itself balanced, but the worm gear plateform requires rear projecting counterweights to balance the massive camera and camera platform. Everything is highly machined, is not portable by one person, the various gimball and azimuth cranks require several operators, and it is not adapted for standard camera tripod support. Akely is a motion picture camera mount for vertical or horizontal panning having a heavy cast iron arm suspending the camera holding mount from the top by a "cardanic" suspension so that by a pendulum effect the camera will seek a proper vertical axis relative to the base. A flywheel in the base damps any jerkiness during horizontal or vertical panning introduced by the panning wheels as they are turned by hand. Further, Poehiman U.S. Pat. No. 399,345 is an early attempt at a camera mount which employed curved brackets on which the camera slides. It has the same disadvantages as its more recent cousin, the pan head tripod mount. Blaschke U.S. Pat. No. 2,305,233 is a surveying instrument mount which includes a double yoke, the positioning of which is secured by wingnuts. The optics of the surveying instrument are off axis with respect to the yoke, being above and parallel to the horizontal axis, not set 90.degree. thereto. Likewise, the instrument is not balanced and not intended for vertical scanning relative to the horizontal double yoke axis.
There is thus a need in the field for a camera mounting device which is independently adjustable along three axes and which does not require the loosening and retightening of various gears, cranks, wingnuts, knobs or handles to accomplish such adjustability. There is a need for a camera mounting device which is quickly disconnectable from a supporting tripod and which is universal, i.e., can accept all makes of SLR cameras. There is a further need for a triaxially pivotable camera mounting device in which the camera body is balanced and does not cause tipping over of the tripod. Such a tripod should permit a full range of angular adjustment with respect to all of the axes of rotation around the focal point of the camera.